Vented tank cap



L. J. sMlTl-Iv 2,501,621

vENTED TANK CAP March 21, 1950 Filed Nov. 1, 1947 INVEN TOR.

:Lan/ELL d. SMITH,

e Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof; and

Patented Mar. 21, 1950 UN I .SLi- S Si PAT E i.; 'i0 j v` 2,501,621 y' lv r vEiSI'lSLEDfirANnCMMi H y Lwt1-l-.ii-T smiths, cqpnersviue,.11101.as5ign0n to,

The present inventionerela-tesatofafyentedfclo;- surescap for automobileigasolinel-ft-nks.;:.Or,libel likep'and:the'primaryiobect'fofztheinvention i, to provide;l an lfimprovedra-capastructure-whioh g whileproviding for desired venting of the co tainer; :with which the i capassociated;` climi nates 14any1.manufacimring-eapenseffin the provisionofzsuchiventing. y-So far asfLam advised previously knownstructures intended to provide suitable 'ventinglnealn'sbin closure capshave invariably required special manufacturing operations, such asdrilling, punching, spinning, or the like. According tothe presentinvention, the n venting means is provided in the samestampingoperations whichwform the `elementswhich are to be assembled to producea rfinishedclosure cap, otherwise ofk substantially standardconstruction-A Further .objects of, the inventiQn will appearias' 'f thedescriptionv;proceeds.. f' 20 Tov the accomplishment@ thefiaboveanatra-p: lated' .obiectsrzmy invention may-.bgembodied, in` the formillustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to thefact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changemay be made in the specic construction illustrated and described, solong as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a cap constructed in accordance with thepresent invention;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken substantially in the planesindicated by the section line 3, 3 of Figure 1, and showing the capassociated with a fragment of a ller neck of standard construction, thecap being not quite seated on said neck.

In one Well known form of closure cap, a body element l0, formed ofsheet metal or the like, is provided with a central depressed region Ilcentrally perforated at I2; and a securing ele-` ment I3, likewiseformed of sheet metal or the like, centrally provided with a dome il!centrally perforated as at l5, is secured to the body member by means ofa rivet i6 passing through the registering openings I2 and i5 and headedover at vboth ends as at l1 and I8. The securing member I3 is formed toprovide an'annular region I9 disposed in spaced facing relation to thecentral portion H of the body IU, and immediately surrounding theperipheral wall 2G of the dome I4. The member I3 has a depending annularskirt 2l formed, at two or more peripherally spaced points, with radialprojections 22 adapted to pass through notches formed in a nller neck 24and then to co-operate with cam surfaces 23 on said neck to draw awasher 25 into cooperamouth of, the fillernecls.. yIns0.me.f0rms.0i.cap. assemblies, the Washes@ may snuglycengase, the domewally 20 while;v in otherfornis tl'ieremay@l be a substantial clearancetherebetweer'i.y

Suche construction is, satisfactory for' useiny connectionfwith certaincontainers which donQtl M requireto be vented'or with'containers whichare 'providedwith independent A venting means,- But'most automobilegasoline'tanks', which mus t ifige ventedvfor safetya-n'd topermit'the'entrancej Q of air into `the ifuelltankv innorder to'replacetheJ fuel as itfis`v used-'from' the"-tank, "arewithoutindependent venting means and must be vented through the ller neckclosure cap. One well known diiiculty encountered with vented caps whenused on automobiles or tractors or other vehicles causing violentagitation of the fuel within the tank is loss of fuel out through thevent during surging of the fuel. While numerous expedients for thusventing gasoline tanks through ller caps have been known heretofore, Ihave devised a novel means to provide for the necessary venting, whileguarding against loss of fuel through the venting passages.

As is clearly illustrated in the drawings, the metal of the securingmember is displaced or distorted to provide an offset, substantiallyradial passage 28 extending from a point radially outside the region ofengagement between the washer 25 and the annular area is to intersectwith an axial passage 29 formed by displacing or oisetting the metal ofthe dome wall 20, and leading into the region above the washer 25.Preferably, the metal of the securing member i3 is thus oiTset at two ormore peripherally spaced points, and I have shown venting passages 28and 29 at two diametrically opposed points.

Likewise, the metal of the body member I0 is similarly offset ordistorted to provide a passage 30 leading radially from the regioninside the washer 21 to the region outside said washer. Again, I haveshown two such passages at diametrically spaced points. Preferably, butnot necessarily, the passages 30 will be peripherally spaced from thepassages 28 and 29; and I have shown them ninety degrees removed. Suchperipheral spacing restricts the discharge of hot steam or spray fromthe container, when that container is an automobile radiator or thelike, and substantially guards against the loss of fuel when fuel issurging violently when the cap is associated with the gasoline tank.Thus by varying the number of passages, the peripheral spacing thereof,and the depth or size thereof, I am able accurately to control theventing action of the closure to adapt it to specific requirements.

It will be clear that the provision of the simple offset passages in theelements l and I3 may be easily accomplished by the same stamping dieswhich form those elements from sheet metal, and at no manufacturingcost, once the dies have been produced.

I claim as my invention:

1. A closure cap comprising a body member, an elem'ent centrally securedto said body member and axially spaced therefrom near its periphery, andannular washer means positioned between said body member and theaxially-spaced portion of said element, and bearing against facingannular areas of said body member and said element, each of said areasbeing provided with an oifset region displaced from the general plane ofsuch area out of engagement with said washer means and extending from apoint radially inward from' said washer means to a point radiallyoutward :from said washer means to provide venting passages between saidWasher means and said element and between said washer means and saidbody member.

2. A closure cap comprising a disc-like body member having a down-turnedperipheral flange, a securing elem'ent having a central dome centrallysecured to the under surface of said body member, said dome beingsurrounded, near its base, by an annular region spaced from said bodymember, and said securing element being provided with means for securingengagement with a container mouth, and washer means cooperativelysurrounding the periphery of said dome and bearing against the annularregion of said securing element and against the region of said bodymember facing said annular region, the material of said securing elementbeing offset in said annular region and in the periphery of said dome toprovide a vent passage past said washer means, and the material of saidbody member being offset in said facing region to provide a Vent passagepast said washer means.

3. The cap of claim 2 in whichthe material of said securing element isoiset at two peripherallyspaced locations and the material of said bodymember is oifset at two peripherally-spaced locations to provide suchvent passages.

4. The cap of claim 3 in which said offset locations of said securingelement are diametrically opposed and the offset locations of said bodymember are diametrically opposed.

5. The cap of claim 3 in which the offset locations of said body memberare peripherally spaced from' the offset locations of said securingelement.

6. The cap of claim 4 in which the offset locations of said securingelement are removed from the offset locations of said body member.

LOWELL J. SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,833,928 Bell Dec. 1, 19311,990,621 Stant Feb. 12, 1935 `'2,191,614 Frantz Feb. 27, 1940 2,314,330Eshbaugh et al Mar. 23, 1943

